World Cup Construction Deadly

Some 900 workers have died while building venues and other infrastructure in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, according to Smithsonian.com.

Photo: AP Photo / Keystone, Walter Bieri

FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter speaks during a press conference at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, March 21. Among topics was an update on the workers' welfare in Qatar.

Almost all are migrant workers from places like Nepal and India.

The International Trade Union Confederation says that if working conditions don’t improve, at least 4,000 workers will have died on the job by the time the World Cup takes place.

The Guardian newspaper has reported workers laboring in 122-degree heat, employers denying them drinking water and withholding salaries while also retaining workers’ passports so that they can’t leave.

Illness is widespread because of overcrowded and unsanitary accommodations.

At one point, 30 Nepalese workers managed to escape to their country’s embassy before leaving Qatar.

A representative of ITUC told the Guardian, “FIFA needs to send a strong and clear message to Qatar that it will not allow the World Cup to be delivered on the back of a system of modern slavery.”